Weiser-KünstlerRiesling Ellergrub “GE” Grand Cru (750ml)

The Grand Cru dry wines of Weiser-Künstler are among the most cerebral dry Rieslings made in the Mosel. They are wines of meditation, wines that seem to have something more to do with distillates or teas made from stone, ore and flower. They have very little easy fruit to hang one’s hat on. In other words, they are among the most thrilling wines from this fabled place.

The 2020 Ellergrug “GE” clocks in at 13% alcohol, which is surprising based on its cool-toned fruit and brisk energy. This wine is nearly impenetrable on opening; there is a profound slate minerality, a phenolic grape quality. There is the smell of fermentation and grape stalks and skins, green and fresh. I mean, fawk this just smells like mineral water. These are wines for minimalists. Yet, a few hours in, a ultra-dense and compact citrus fruit rises – mandarin orange citrus oils, phenolic, perfumed, a bit spicy and herbal. On the palate, the wine is just so obviously deep, much deeper and more concentrated than the Gaispfad; this density and compactness is simply outrageous. There is more structure, more grip – almost tannic. It is more gushing; not large in size but deeper and more earthen – slate ground into sand or earth.

After a few hours the fruit emerges on the nose, as described above, but the palate remains just a polished sphere of slate. This wine is fucking beguiling.

If you can, do not decant, yet keep the wine open for as long as you can; it is only more intriguing on days three and beyond.